Born in London, Hayter received degrees in chemistry and geology from King's College, London, and worked for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Iran in the early 1920s. After an attack of malaria he returned to London and his company organized an exhibition of his paintings and drawings, which sold well. In 1926 he traveled to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian and with Polish printmaker Jôsef Hecht. Captivated by printmaking, Hayter founded Atelier 17 for artists and skilled technicians to conduct collaborative experiments in print media. First established in Paris in 1927, it moved to New York in 1940 and returned to Paris in 1950. Initially, the workshop focused on intaglio methods (engraving, etching and drypoint), but it soon encompassed much broader range as a result of the artistic and technical talent drawn there. Atelier 17 attracted some of the leading artists of the day, including Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, and Marc Chagall, and the press still operates in Paris under the name Atelier Contrepoint.
